Carpet planks

ABSTRACT

Rectangular carpet modules or “planks” and installation of such planks having the continuous appearance of broadloom carpet or a wide variety of other effective, human scale designs. “Planks” sized approximately ¼ meter (25 cm) by 1 meter (100 cm) (or approximately 9 inches by 36 inches) are particularly effective.

CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION

This application claims priority to U.S. Provisional Patent ApplicationSer. No. 61/742,135, filed Aug. 3, 2012, which application isincorporated herein in its entirety by this reference.

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

This invention relates generally to carpet tiles and other textile facemodular flooring and to methods of designing modular flooring havingstriped patterns and installations of such flooring that mimics theappearance of broadloom carpet.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

In part for ease of installation, modular carpet has traditionally beeninstalled in aligned rows and columns of square modules or “tiles,” withthe edges of each tile aligned with the edges of adjacent tiles(“conventional carpet tile installation method”). Conventional carpettile has also historically been a product that sought to mimic theappearance of seamless broadloom carpet and to hide or at leastde-emphasize the fact that the product was modular. See, for instance,U.S. Pat. No. 6,908,656, which is incorporated herein in its entirety byreference.

Textile face modular flooring designers have sometimes designed flooringand flooring installations that do not seek to mask, but ratheremphasize, the modularity of the flooring. For instance, modules can beinstalled “quarter-turned” with each tile position rotated 90° relativeto each adjacent tile. In other instances, module edges are emphasizedto achieve an installation appearance similar to that of ceramic tileseparated by grout.

There continues, however, to be substantial demand for flooring designsthat do not visually emphasize the modularity of flooring components andinstead appear to have a design that spans the entire flooringinstallation or part of the flooring installation rather than appearingto be confined to individual modules.

There likewise is continuing demand for carpet tiles capable ofinstallation in ways that present new visual designs and patterns.

Carpet tile and other textile face modular flooring has to be highlyuniform in size and shape and has to have edge structures that present auniform floor covering when edges of adjacent tiles are abutting. Theserequirements typically make it a practical necessity for such productsto be produced by forming a web of material that is at least somewhatwider than the width of one flooring module, and preferably a bit widerthan some multiple of modules, and then cutting modules from that web.For instance, carpet tiles are typically produced by manufacturing a weba bit more than six feet wide and then cutting from it tiles that areeighteen inches square, or by manufacturing a web a bit more than twometers wide and then cutting from it tiles that are one-half metersquare. In each case, four tiles can be obtained across the web. Whileit is relatively easy to cut modules from such a web that have a desiredsize with a high level of accuracy, it is difficult to position thelongitudinal cuts or module separation lines accurately with respect topredetermined positions on the web. It is likewise difficult to positionthe transverse cuts or separation lines accurately with respect topredetermined positions on the web, at least without substantialmaterial waste.

Some design types present particular problems for use on modularflooring. One such difficult design type is parallel stripes. (As usedin this application and patent, “stripes” are visibly different regionsof the flooring face having portions of relatively uniform width thattypically are significantly longer than wide.) To ensure a fluidappearance in a flooring installation, the tiles cut from a web havinguninterrupted stripes extending along its length obviously must beoriented so that all of the stripes of the tiles are oriented in thesame direction. However, this alone will not achieve an aestheticallydesirable installation appearance.

First, attention has to be paid to the appearance at the places whereside-by-side tiles are abutting in an installation so that there is notan out-of-place or odd appearing stripe at that location. Additionally,attention may be drawn to the place where top-to-bottom tile abutmentoccurs, i.e., where the ends of stripes on one tile meet the ends ofstripes on another tile.

One could imagine a design having uniform-width, parallel stripes thatfall in precisely the same locations on each tile. It would then bepossible to position such tiles in the same orientation on a floor toproduce a uniform pattern of uninterrupted, uniform, parallel stripesacross a room. Such carpet tiles would be very difficult to produce,however, using conventional production techniques where a carpet web isproduced and then cut into tiles, because it is difficult to achieveidentical tiles.

One reason for this is that it is difficult to locate the cuts thatseparate the web into tiles precisely in predetermined locations. Thiswill result in different width stripes at tiles edges (where the stripesare of uniform width on the carpet web). Additionally, unless tiles arepositioned so that the stripes on one tile are precisely aligned withthe stripes on an adjacent tile, the appearance of continuous stripes onthe web will not be reproduced on the floor. Such precise alignment isdifficult to do unless the tiles are reassembled exactly as they camefrom the web. It is unlikely that stripes will align from one tile tothe next because, among other reasons, of variation in the location oflongitudinal cuts on the web. Imprecise cutting can result in stripes ofa tile appearing offset from stripes of adjacent tiles, therebybetraying seams and ruining the appearance of continuous stripes in theflooring installation. Additionally, as noted above, the position of thelongitudinal cuts relative to the stripes into which or next to whichthey fall can create a stripe that appears to be wider or narrower thanthose in the design (except, of course, where the modules are assembledon the floor in the same side-by-side location they had in the web andthe split stripe is re-assembled). Given the necessity but difficulty ofattaining cutting precision with conventional striped designs,flexibility in placement of the tiles having a conventional stripedpattern of equal-width, continuous stripes is severely limited.

U.S. Pat. No. 7,297,385 (incorporated in its entirety herein by thisreference) addressed the need for modular flooring design and productiontechniques that enable the creation of flooring designs having parallelstripes notwithstanding the above-described and other constraints ofconventional modular carpet construction and installation. It did so byproviding a broadloom carpet web and a method of forming a carpet webhaving a striped pattern and color scheme that permits carpet tiles cutfrom the web to be installed without regard to relative tile positionsand without visibly disrupting the pattern, but rather maintaining theappearance of a broadloom web. This was accomplished, in part, byintroducing in the web design, and therefore in some of the tiles cutfrom the web, “longitudinal discontinuities” that mask or take attentionaway from longitudinal discontinuities that typically occur attop-to-bottom tile interfaces. (“Longitudinal discontinuities” areplaces in the flooring where one or more stripes or other visibleelements of the flooring end and other stripes extending in the samedirection or other visible elements begin.) The U.S. Pat. No. 7,297,385patent techniques produce attractive, distinctive carpet tileinstallations that exhibit prominently numerous longitudinaldiscontinuities.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The terms “invention,” “the invention,” “this invention” and “thepresent invention” used in this patent are intended to refer broadly toall of the subject matter of this patent and the patent claims below.Statements containing these terms should be understood not to limit thesubject matter described herein or to limit the meaning or scope of thepatent claims below. Embodiments of the invention covered by this patentare defined by the claims below, not this summary. This summary is ahigh-level overview of various aspects of the invention and introducessome of the concepts that are further described in the DetailedDescription section below. This summary is not intended to identify keyor essential features of the claimed subject matter, nor is it intendedto be used in isolation to determine the scope of the claimed subjectmatter. The subject matter should be understood by reference toappropriate portions of the entire specification of this patent, any orall drawings and each claim.

The broadloom-like appearance of installations of the flooring of thisinvention is achieved by producing carpet modules in certain sizes andor proportions (as further described below) from a carpet web in whichmultiple yarn heights, types, colors or other properties produce narrowstripes or rows of yarn that differ in a random-looking way in color,yarn type, height, width or length or a combination of some or all ofthose or other attributes.

Optionally, the web may have variations in “background” and “foreground”yarn color, height and pile (e.g., loop or cut pile) according to aseparate patchy, cloud-like or organic-looking pattern or otherpatterns. After the web is manufactured and backing is applied, it iscut into rectangular modules or “planks” typically (but not necessarily)approximately one-fourth meter wide and one meter long (or approximatelyone-fourth yard wide and one yard long), and the carpet modules areinstalled, usually aligned longitudinally but staggered laterally.

Modular carpet installations aligned in one direction (e.g., up and downthe floor) and staggered at right angles to that first direction (e.g.,laterally) may be referred to as “ashlar” installations. Installationsaligned across a floor and staggered up and down are sometimes alsoreferred to as “ashlar” installations and other times are referred to as“brick” or “brick ashlar” installations. “Ashlar” as used in thisapplication and patent means modules installed aligned in a firstdirection and staggered in a second direction perpendicular to the firstdirection.

The absence of lateral alignment in modular flooring installations ofthis invention means that longitudinal visual discontinuities in theinstallation will be relatively narrow and unobtrusive. Significantly,the visual discontinuities for rectangular carpet modules of theabove-described dimensions will be, at most, only one-half as wide aswould be the case with conventional square tiles because the modules areonly half as wide. The modest width of visual discontinuities helps tomask the fact that the flooring is modular. Furthermore, while theserectangular carpet modules will have twice as much length oflongitudinal “seams” where two modules abut side to side as compared tosquare carpet tiles one-half as long as these rectangular modules, thesame installation of rectangular carpet modules will have about one-halfas much length of perpendicular (end to end) “seams” where two modulesabut end to end. The combination of shorter and fewer end to end seamsfacilitates creation of broadloom-like appearance in flooringinstallations of the rectangular modules of this invention. This benefitwould be even greater if the rectangular modules are made longer and ifthey are made narrower or both. Thus, the modules could be as little asabout 2 to 1 length to width and as great as about 10 to 1 length towidth, but there are practical limits on length and width of modules,which limits may be different in different situations depending on suchvariables as manufacturing technique, installation conditions, room sizeand many other variables.

In many fields of human endeavor scale is not particularly importantbecause, among other possibilities, changes in scale will not changefunction. There are, on the other hand, numerous situations where scaleis significant. In some instances, human scale matters very much. Humanvision is limited by the characteristics of the human eye and brain.Close objects can be too small for a human to see without magnification,just as larger objects may be too distant for humans to see withoutmagnification. Another example also has to do with vision. Humans cansee certain wavelengths of light but not all wavelengths and not asbroad a range of wavelengths as some animals.

Most floorcoverings are seen by humans from at a range of distancesbeginning at about four feet, the typical minimum distance of adulthuman eyes above the floor of a standing person looking down at a floor.Interior building spaces are almost all designed to “human scale” withsimilar size rooms, similar width corridors and the like. Even inrelatively uncommon interior spaces that are dramatically larger thantypical spaces, the heights of humans and the constraints of theirvisual abilities cause them to see clearly about the same quantities offloor space from about the same distances and with about the same visualacuity.

Similarly, “carpet scale” constraints are associated with carpet andcarpet tile textile floorcoverings. While versatile, commerciallypractical weaving and tufting techniques all utilize closely similarmaterials (mostly nylon fiber on carpet faces), the same relativelysmall range of sizes of fibers and yarns, the same small range oflengths of yarns protruding on the carpet face, the same small range ofdensities of yarns and the essentially the same palate of colors.

Carpet can be produced in very large sizes and much smaller sizes andhas been so produced. Carpet tiles have long been produced in squaresizes, but only sizes ranging between about one foot square up to oneyard or one meter square (i.e., in a ratio of side lengths of 1:1) arecommercially practical and desirable. Carpet tiles have previously beenproduced in rectangles such as ½ meter by 1 meter or 18 inches by 36inches (i.e., in a ratio of side lengths of 2:1). The inventor of thispatent has discovered that smaller, proportionately narrower rectanglesof carpet tile—on the order of about ¼ meter (25 centimeters) by about 1meter (100 centimeters) (or about 9 inches by about 36 inches) (i.e., ina ratio of side lengths of 1:4) and with appropriate face yarns andpatterns—enable:

-   -   a. installations having remarkable uniform, broadloom-like        appearance without visible seams and    -   b. a wide variety of other visually attractive and visually        functional installation designs.

These capabilities utilizing carpet “planks” about ¼ meter by about 1meter seem to function as they do because of, and to reflect, humanscale, carpet scale and visual diversity considerations.

One aspect of the greater visual diversity and better seam-hiding thatcan be achieved with carpet planks of this size can be understood byimagining a typical human-scale floor that is five meters by five meterssquare (around 16 feet by 16 feet square). Such a floor is fully coveredby 10×10=100 one-half meter square tiles with 9×5=45 meters of seamsrunning in each of the up and down and across directions. By contrast,such a floor is fully covered by 20×5=100 one-fourth meter by one meterplank-shaped tiles, with only 3×5=15 meters of across the web seams.Thus, with the planks, there is only one third as much cross-web seam tohide. This facilitates achieving a continuous appearance using certainstripe patterns in installations of closely similar tiles.

Such carpet planks are very versatile in other installation patternsusing planks that are not all alike, and that are not necessarilyinstalled with staggered plank ends, including installations of plankshaving different colors, different tufting patterns, different yarns,different yarn heights and other differences in appearance. Such plankscan also be used with tiles of different sizes and shapes, including,for instance, tiles that are one-fourth meter square.

Now consider a commercial space corridor about two meters wide. Withone-half meter square tiles, only 4 tiles can be positioned across thewidth of the corridor. By contrast, with one-fourth meter by one metertiles positioned longitudinally, 8 tiles can be positioned across thewidth of the corridor facilitating dramatically different corridor floorpatterns.

As yet another example, herringbone patterns of one-fourth meter by onemeter planks (side ration of 1:4) are dramatically different inappearance from herringbone patterns of one-half meter by one meter orone meter by two meter tiles (side ration of 1:2) because of human scaleand carpet scale considerations as well as the difference in the ratioof side lengths.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE FIGURES

This patent or application file contains at least one color photograph.Copies of this patent or patent application publication with colorphotograph(s) will be provided by the Office upon request and payment ofthe necessary fee.

Illustrative embodiments of the present invention are described indetail below with reference to the following drawing figures:

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a modular carpet installation of thisinvention.

FIG. 2 depicts a pattern used to produce a tufted web from which thecarpet modules or planks depicted in FIG. 1 were made.

FIGS. 3, 4, 5 and 6 depict top or plan views of assemblies of carpetmodules having the pattern depicted in FIGS. 1 and 2 but with differentsizes and arrangements as follows:

FIG. 3 depicts ¼ meter by 1 meter modules in an ashlar installation.

FIG. 4 depicts ¼ meter by 1 meter modules in a monolithic installation.

FIG. 5 depicts ½ meter by ½ meter tiles in an ashlar installation.

FIG. 6 depicts ½ meter by ½ meter tiles in a monolithic installation.

FIGS. 7, 8, 9 and 10 are the same as FIGS. 3, 4, 5 and 6, respectively,except that broken lines have been added at the locations of the moduleedges to make the individual modules easier to see.

FIG. 11 is a schematic diagram depicting an installation of carpetmodules with adhesive-bearing connectors located under approximately onehalf of module corner locations.

FIG. 12 is another schematic diagram depicting an installation of carpetplanks with adhesive-bearing connectors located under all module cornerlocations.

FIGS. 13A and 13B depict monolithic and ashlar assemblies of squaremodules, respectively, with regular or regimented stripes; FIGS. 13C and13D depict monolithic and ashlar assemblies of rectangular carpetmodules, respectively, with a random-looking stripe pattern.

FIGS. 14 A and 14 B depict monolithic and ashlar assemblies of squaremodules, respectively, with a random-looking stripe pattern; FIGS. 14Cand 14D depict monolithic and ashlar assemblies of rectangular modules,respectively, with a random-looking stripe pattern.

FIGS. 15-100 depict additional carpet tiles, planks and other modulesand additional assemblies of planks and other modules in accordance withthis invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

The subject matter of embodiments of the present invention is describedhere with specificity to meet statutory requirements, but thisdescription is not necessarily intended to limit the scope of theclaims. The claimed subject matter may be embodied in other ways, mayinclude different elements or steps, and may be used in conjunction withother existing or future technologies. This description should not beinterpreted as implying any particular order or arrangement among orbetween various steps or elements except when the order of individualsteps or arrangement of elements is explicitly described.

FIG. 1 depicts an installation 10 of the carpet modules or planks 12 ofthis invention that exhibits a broadloom-like appearance. FIG. 2 depictsa pattern 14 usable to produce a carpet web from which the carpet planks12 are produced.

The broadloom-like appearance of installations of the flooring of thisinvention, such as installation 10, is achieved by producing carpetmodules having at least two characteristics and installing them in anarrangement that facilitates a continuous appearance. This can often beachieved with an ashlar or similar arrangement with staggered shorteredges, but other arrangements will be acceptable in some instances.First, a carpet web from which the modules will be produced havingnarrow stripes or striations 15, preferably in a random-looking pattern.An example of a random-looking pattern 14 having stripes or striations15 may be seen in FIG. 2. Such stripes or striations 15 can be createdin numerous ways, including printing a fabric web or creating a fabricweb with stripes or striations 15 by tufting in different colors orproducing other variations in yarn height, type, pile (e.g., loop or cutpile). Second, the carpet modules are manufactured in rectanglesapproximately ¼ meter wide by one meter long (approximately 25centimeters by 100 centimeters) or approximately ¼ yard wide by one yardlong (approximately 9 inches by 36 inches) with longer module edgesparallel to the stripes or striations 15. The rectangular modules arepreferably installed in an ashlar arrangement such as that depicted inFIGS. 1, 3, 7, 11 and 12 in which the rectangular modules are alignedend to end but not side to side (the longer edges are aligned with thelonger edges of modules abutting the shorter edges of each module butthe shorter edges are not aligned with like edges of tiles abutting thelonger edges).

The appearance of an installation of such modules 12 can be furtherenhanced by incorporating patchy, cloud-like or organic-looking elementsin the pattern, such as elements 17, 19 and 21 in pattern 14 in FIG. 2,but a broadloom-like appearance may be achieved without such elements17, 19 and 21 and with other design elements. Likewise many differentpatterns of stripes or striations may be used to produce the modules ofthis invention.

The stripes or striations 15 significantly reduce the prominence of thelonger module 12 edges 23 (See FIG. 7) because they lie parallel to thestriations 15 and are essentially buried between the striations 15 orotherwise are not visually prominent. Narrow strips avoid the risk of an“out-of-place” narrow strip that could appear at the edge of a modulehaving a pattern with only broad stripes. Use of a random-lookingpattern of narrow stripes or striations 15 contributes to a continuous,broadloom-like appearance in an installation of such modules 12 forreasons that can be appreciated by comparing the appearance ofmonolithic and ashlar assemblies of square and rectangular moduleshaving either (1) a “regimented” or regular stripe pattern or (2) arandom-looking stripe pattern.

FIGS. 13A and 13B depict monolithic and ashlar assemblies of squaremodules 30, respectively, with regular or regimented stripes formed byutilizing a regular or regimented thread-up like AABBCCDD . . . etc.FIGS. 13C and 13D depict monolithic and ashlar assemblies of rectangularmodules 32, respectively, with a regular or regimented striped formed byutilizing a regular or regimented thread-up.

Because wider stripes 34 sometimes appear where stripes on side-to-sideabutting square modules 30 “combine” in the assembly, but only at placeswhere tiles abut, such wider stripes 34 are visually prominent, as isclear in FIGS. 13A and 13B. Likewise, the same phenomenon is present inthe assemblies of rectangular tiles 36 in FIGS. 13C and 13D, where suchvisually prominent wide stripes 38 are marked.

FIGS. 14 A and 14 B depict monolithic and ashlar assemblies of squaremodules 40, respectively, with a random-looking stripe pattern producedby using a random thread-up in which the stripes have different widthsand or different colors or types of yarns are utilized in arandom-looking sequence that was not have a visually identifiablesequence. FIGS. 14C and 14D depict monolithic and ashlar assemblies ofrectangular modules 42, respectively, with the same random-lookingstripe pattern as is used in modules 40. The random-looking stripepattern includes stripes of various widths, including wide stripes 44and narrow stripes 46. Because wide stripes 44 appear elsewhere in themodules, the occurrence of wide stripes at abutting module edges,because both edges carry part of a stripe having the same appearance,does not look out of place or call attention to the location where themodules 40 or 42 abut. This contributes to camouflage of tile “seams”parallel to the stripes 44 and 46.

Focusing again on FIGS. 3, 4, 7 and 8, the module 12 shorter edges 25are more easily seen than longer edges 23, but the shorter edges 25 inFIGS. 3 and 7 are not visually prominent because they are not alignedwith the shorter edges 25 of abutting modules (as is the case in FIGS. 4and 8).

In the case of a rectangular module four times as long as it is wide(like modules 12 in FIGS. 7 and 8), there is only one-half as muchlength of such shorter edges 25 than would be found in an installationof square modules that are twice as wide and one-half as long. Moduleseven longer than about one yard or one meter would further reduce thequantity of shorter edges in a given installation, but significantlylonger modules present manufacturing, shipping, installation and otherissues that make modules 12 in at least approximately the describeddimensions very practical while providing a good balance of visual andother properties.

In order to further illustrate the benefit of staggered installation ofthe modules 12, FIGS. 4 and 8 depict modules 12 that are not staggeredbut are instead installed with both longer and shorter edges aligned.The horizontal, aligned shorter edges marked in FIG. 8 are relativelyeasily seen without marking in FIG. 4.

FIGS. 5 and 9 depict an ashlar configuration of square tiles 13 (andhalf-tiles 13A in FIG. 9) using the pattern of FIG. 2. This ashlarconfiguration is superior to the monolithic installation of the samesquare tiles 13 depicted in FIGS. 6 and 10. However, all of theinstallations of square tiles 13 and 13A in FIGS. 5, 6 9 and 10 havetwice as much tile edge 17 perpendicular to the stripes 15 as doassemblies of rectangular modules 12 (where the rectangles are fourtimes as long as they are wide). Such tile edges 17 are easily seen inthe monolithic installations of FIGS. 6 and 10 (where they are aligned)and are undesirably evident in the ashlar installations of FIGS. 5 and9.

A carpet web usable to make the carpet planks or modules of thisinvention may be tufted using conventional or computer controlledtufting machines able to produce patterns containing the stripes orstriations 15 described above with appropriate yarn thread ups.

Installation of the carpet planks or modules 12 of this invention in aroom may be accomplished by snapping a chalk line on the floor of theroom dividing the room approximately in half. The line typically will be(but need not necessarily be) parallel to least one wall in the room. Aline of carpet modules 12 of this invention is then laid on the floorend to end and aligned with the chalk line on the floor. A second lineof modules 12 may then be installed beside the first line but with theend to end seams of the second row staggered relative to the first line.Such staggering can be done with the seams of one row of modules 12 atthe mid-point of a contiguous row of modules 12, but the seams may bestaggered in different relative positions, such as is achieved bystaggering adjacent rows offset by one third of module length. Moreover,alternate rows need not be aligned with each other. When alternatinglines of modules 12 or every third line of modules 12 are to be aligned,it may be desirable to snap a second and perhaps a third and fourthchalk line perpendicular to the first chalk line so that ends of tilesin alternating rows are aligned with one of the second or third orfourth (perpendicular) chalk lines.

The modules 12 may be “free laid” without adhesive or any otherattachment to the floor or each other. The modules 12 may also be glueddown with appropriate conventional adhesive spread on the floor, theundersides of the tiles or both in advance of installation. The modules12 may also be installed utilizing adhesive-bearing connectors such asInterface Flooring's TacTiles® adhesive connectors, typically bylocating such a connector 26 on the undersides of the modules 12 atevery pair of corners 28 (see FIG. 12) or every other pair of corners 28(see FIG. 11). Usable adhesive connectors are disclosed, among otherplaces, in U.S. Pat. Nos. 7,721,502, 7,464,510 and 8,381,473 B2, all ofwhich are incorporated herein in their entirety by reference. (FIGS. 3and 7 and the schematic depictions of FIGS. 11 and 12 include fullmodules 12 and partial modules 12A. Partial modules 12A would typicallyby cut from full modules 12 for use at the edge of a room where a floorencounters a wall.) Typically the connectors 26 will be attached to andjoining two module or plank corners 28 and the adjacent third plank ormodule 12. Installation with TacTiles® or similar connectors can be donewith the connectors inserted as the flooring modules 12 are laid.Connectors 26 can be used at all module 12 corners 28, at one half ofthe module corners 28 or in any other appropriate configuration. Thesequence of installation of connectors can vary. For instance, thefollowing two sequences of steps are two method that may be used toinstall floor modules 12 with connectors 26 at only half of all tilecorners 28.

A first sequence of steps for rectangular carpet module installationwith adhesive-bearing connectors at about half of all module cornersincludes:

-   1. positioning a first module on the floor,-   2. lifting a corner of the first module and inserting approximately    one-fourth of a first adhesive-bearing connector under the lifted    module corner,-   3. pressing the lifted module corner down on the first connector,-   4. laying a second module abutting and aligned end to end with the    first module and pressing a corner of the second module onto the    first connector,-   5. laying a third module abutting and side to side with the first    and second modules 12 and on top of the uncovered portion of the    first connector,-   6. lifting a corner of the second module and inserting approximately    one-fourth of a second connector under the lifted module corner,-   7. pressing the second tile lifted module corner down on the second    connector,-   8. repeating steps 4 and 5 with fourth and fifth modules 12 as    needed until two side-by-side lines of modules 12 are positioned on    the floor,-   9. lifting the adjacent corners of the third and fifth modules 12    remote from the second module, inserting approximately one-half of a    third connector under the third and fifth modules 12 and pressing    those lifted corners down on the third connector,-   10. on the side of the row remote from the first row of modules 12,    lifting the adjacent corners of each pair of modules 12 in the    second row of modules 12 and inserting approximately one-half of a    connector and pressing the module corners down on the connector    until all second line module pairs are so connected,-   11. repeating step 9 until a third line of modules 12 has been    installed, and-   12. positioning a fourth line of modules 12 adjacent to the third    line of modules 12 abutting and staggered relative to the third line    of modules 12 and repeating steps 9, 10 and 11 until all modules 12    required have been installed.

A second, alternative sequence of steps for floor module installationwith connectors at about half of all module corners includes:

-   1. positioning a first module on the floor,-   2. lifting a corner of the first module and inserting approximately    one-fourth of a first connector under the lifted module corner,-   3. pressing the lifted module corner down on the first connector,-   4. laying a second module abutting and aligned end to end with the    first module and pressing a corner of the second module onto the    first connector,-   5. laying a third module abutting and side to side with the first    and second modules 12 and on top of the uncovered portion of the    first connector,-   6. lifting a corner of the second module and inserting approximately    one-fourth of a second connector under the lifted module corner,-   7. laying a fourth module abutting and aligned end to end with the    second module and pressing and pressing fourth module onto the    second connector,-   8. lifting a corner of the third module remote from the first module    and inserting approximately one-fourth of a third connector under    the lifted module corner,-   9. pressing the third tile lifted module corner down on the third    connector,-   10. laying a fifth module abutting and aligned end to end with the    third module and on top of portions of the second and third    connectors, and-   11. repeating appropriate ones of the preceding steps with    additional modules 12 and connectors until all modules 12 needed    have been laid.

The carpet modules 12 of this invention can also be installed in thesame general manner as described above but with placement of a connectorat all tile corners or at any fraction of all of the tile cornerlocations. Regardless of the number of connectors used for aninstallation of carpet modules 12, the sequence of steps can be variedfor ease, convenience and otherwise as desired in a particularinstallation.

The modules 12 of this invention may be produced by first producing awider carpet web having a pattern exhibiting the characteristicsdescribed herein and then cutting the web into modules 12 in theconventional ways that tiles are typically cut from a carpet webproduced for that purpose. The web design can be rendered in anyconventional manner, such as tufting or weaving a web with a desiredpattern or by printing a tufted, woven or other web. The techniques ofthis invention are particularly well suited, however, for production byrendering the pattern through tufting with yarn pre-dyed in suitablecolors.

Appropriate backing like that used for conventional square carpet tilesis applied to the carpet web before it is cut into modules 12 in orderto impart appropriate stiffness, stability and other needed properties.

Different arrangements are possible for the components and steps shownin the drawings or described above, and components and steps not shownor described can also be used. Similarly, some features andsubcombinations are useful and may be employed without reference toother features and subcombinations. Embodiments of the invention havebeen described for illustrative and not restrictive purposes, andalternative embodiments will become apparent to readers of this patent.Accordingly, the present invention is not limited to the embodimentsdescribed above or depicted in the drawings, and various embodiments andmodifications can be made without departing from the scope of the claimsbelow.

1. A rectangular carpet module having edges, comprising: carpet facefabric bonded to carpet tile secondary backing sized approximately ¼meter by 1 meter, the face fabric comprising carpet yarn tufted in adesign having relatively narrow stripes or striations parallel to the 1meter edges.
 2. The rectangular carpet module of claim 1, wherein thecarpet yarn comprises only one yarn comprising only one color.
 3. Therectangular carpet module of claim 1, wherein the carpet yarn comprisesat least two different yarns.
 4. The rectangular carpet module of claim3, wherein the at least two different yarns comprise two differentcolors.
 5. An assembly of carpet modules on a floor, comprising aplurality of the carpet modules of claim 1 in an ashlar arrangement. 6.An assembly of carpet modules on a floor, comprising a plurality of thecarpet modules of claim 1, wherein at least two of the carpet moduleshave different tufted yarn patterns.
 7. An assembly of carpet modules ona floor, comprising a plurality of the carpet modules of claim 1,wherein at least two of the carpet modules have different yarn colors ortypes.
 8. Flooring exhibiting the relatively continuous appearance ofbroadloom carpet, the flooring comprising a plurality of rectangularcarpet modules having edges approximately ¼ meter by 1 meter and cornersat the intersections of the edges, the modules assembled with aligned 1meter edges and staggered ¼ meter edges, the modules comprising tuftedcarpet yarn faces comprising narrow stripes or striations parallel tothe 1 meter edges and carpet tile secondary backing bonded to the yarnfaces.
 9. The flooring of claim 8 further comprising adhesive-bearingconnectors attached to the secondary backing of the carpet modulesproximate at least approximately one-half of the module corners.
 10. Theflooring of claim 8 further comprising adhesive-bearing connectorsattached to secondary backing of the carpet modules proximateapproximately all of the module corners.
 11. An assembly of rectangularcarpet modules, wherein each module is approximately four times as longas it is wide.
 12. The assembly of rectangular carpet tiles of claim 11,wherein the modules are approximately one-fourth meter wide and onemeter long.
 13. The assembly of rectangular carpet tiles of claim 11,wherein the modules are approximately 9 inches wide and 36 inches long.14. An assembly of rectangular carpet modules, wherein each module isapproximately four times as long as it is wide, and the modules arealigned end to end and staggered side to side.
 15. A method ofinstalling rectangular carpet modules comprising: a. positioning a firstmodule on the floor, b. lifting a corner of the first module andinserting approximately one-fourth of a first adhesive-bearing connectorunder the lifted module corner, c. pressing the lifted module cornerdown on the first connector, d. laying a second module abutting andaligned end to end with the first module and pressing a corner of thesecond module onto the first connector, e. laying a third moduleabutting and side to side with the first and second modules and on topof the uncovered portion of the first connector, f. lifting a corner ofthe second module and inserting approximately one-fourth of a secondconnector under the lifted module corner, g. pressing the second tilelifted module corner down on the second connector, h. repeating steps(d) and (e) with fourth and fifth modules as needed until twoside-by-side lines of modules are positioned on the floor, i. liftingthe adjacent corners of the third and fifth modules remote from thesecond module, inserting approximately one-half of a third connectorunder the third and fifth modules and pressing those lifted corners downon the third connector, j. on the side of the row remote from the firstrow of modules, lifting the adjacent corners of each pair of modules inthe second row of modules and inserting approximately one-half of aconnector and pressing the module corners down on the connector untilall second line module pairs are so connected, k. repeating step (i)until a third line of modules has been installed, and l. positioning afourth line of modules adjacent to the third line of modules abuttingand staggered relative to the third line of modules and repeating steps(i), (j) and (k) until all modules required have been installed.
 16. Amethod of installing rectangular carpet modules comprising: a.positioning a first module on the floor, b. lifting a corner of thefirst module and inserting approximately one-fourth of a first connectorunder the lifted module corner, c. pressing the lifted module cornerdown on the first connector, d. laying a second module abutting andaligned end to end with the first module and pressing a corner of thesecond module onto the first connector, e. laying a third moduleabutting and side to side with the first and second modules and on topof the uncovered portion of the first connector, f. lifting a corner ofthe second module and inserting approximately one-fourth of a secondconnector under the lifted module corner, g. laying a fourth moduleabutting and aligned end to end with the second module and pressing andpressing fourth module onto the second connector, h. lifting a corner ofthe third module remote from the first module and insertingapproximately one-fourth of a third connector under the lifted modulecorner, i. pressing the third tile lifted module corner down on thethird connector, j. laying a fifth module abutting and aligned end toend with the third module and on top of portions of the second and thirdconnectors, and k. repeating appropriate ones of the preceding stepswith additional modules and connectors until all modules needed havebeen laid.